


Under Your Skin

by milktxt



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Johnny has too much of a crush to even care, M/M, Might get heavier as it goes, Probably not though, Slow Burn, Ten has no filter, Unrequited Crush, one sided pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 23:58:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17069666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milktxt/pseuds/milktxt
Summary: Johnny walks into a tattoo parlor to get a mistake covered up and gets a lot more than what he asks for. Ten is a tormented tattoo artist with a fear of commitment and a soft spot for goofy giants with terrible tattoos.





	Under Your Skin

Johnny looks down at the address on his phone, his voice navigation indicating that he’s indeed in the right place. He locks his phone quickly before looking up, hands sweating in excitement and something akin to panic. The little voice inside his head ushers him to turn around and come back another day, and Johnny has to physically pinch himself to get that annoying voice to simmer down. He knows himself; if he doesn’t do it today, he never will.

“The 7th Sense, huh?” 

The exterior looks exactly like what a tattoo parlor should look like but it could also pass for some VIP lounge bar, it’s sleek and well decorated and a little too intimidating for little old Johnny, who takes two deep breaths before pulling the front door open. 

The interior is as sleek as the outside. There are two black leather couches by the front door as well as many more chairs and a coffee table. The ceiling speakers are playing a song that Johnny’s never heard before but sounds similar to every indie rock song he’s ever heard. The front desk is situated right there too, right in front of a wall mounted aquarium. The entire place screams upscale and sophisticated.

“Can I help you?” A voice makes Johnny snap out of his daydream. Apparently, there’s also a guy behind the front desk, mindlessly flipping the pages of what looks like a gossip magazine, his painted nails tapping against the polished marble to the beat of the song playing. Johnny hadn’t noticed, too enticed by the aquarium to realize he is in public and that the receptionist is most definitely judging him at this point.

“Oh, yeah sorry…” Johnny mutters, hand moving up to scratch at the back of his head; a nervous habit.

“It’s all right. The aquarium usually has this effect on people.” The guy jokes, closing his magazine and straightening himself out, waiting for Johnny’s reply. He looks kind, but there’s something about his deep lavender hair, eyebrow piercing, and the vivid snake tattoo that goes down his neck that just screams intimidating. 

“My name’s Yuta. How can I help you?” The receptionist reiterates. 

Johnny panics.

“Kun brought me here!”

“Excuse me, what?” 

It takes a second for Johnny to realize what he just said. His heart is pounding and it’s too much of an overreaction for someone who’s just here for a little tattoo coverup. He thought he was more than ready; he even did some research on tattooist slang before coming here, dammit! 

Johnny blames it on the aesthetic. 

“I’m so sorry, I’m really nervous… I’m here for a tattoo coverup.” 

“Okay, we’re finally getting somewhere.” Yuta clasps his hands in mock glee. “Do you have any ideas for the coverup?” 

“Well… not really. I just want that thing off me as soon as possible.”

“That bad, huh? Many people who get coverups rarely come with something in mind and when they do, the end result is often something completely different, depending on how bad the fuckup is.”

It makes Johnny feel a tad bit better. 

“We work by the hour, by the way. Some of us…” Yuta points at the direction of a closed door, which Johnny guesses is where all the magic happens “...charge more than others. You’ll have to discuss with the artist.”

Johnny expected Yuta to be the one tattooing him, as had the previous tattoo parlor he’d gone to; but again, this place is something else entirely. Maybe he really is the receptionist and not one of the artists. Yuta seems to sense his confusion.

“I could tattoo you, but I’m booked all afternoon so you’d have to book an appointment for next week… And by the look of the situation, sounds like you don’t want to wait for a whole other week, right?”

Touché.

“But fear not,” Yuta says in a fake solemn voice, “everyone here is really talented, and if you’re lucky, Ten might be available.”

Johnny’s seen Ten’s name before. Although he doesn’t exactly know what he looks like, one glance at his Instagram page shows how good the man really is. Johnny’s choice of parlor’s stems from hours upon hours of scrolling down his explore page, reading customer reviews and listening to Taeyong rave about the half sleeve that Doyoung, one of the other artists that work here, has done on him. 

“Sounds good!” 

Yuta gives him a quick pat on the shoulder before leaving the counter and speed walking to the back of the door, probably to call on any available artist, Johnny guesses. He’s not really sure whether or not to follow him, so he leaves a bit of distance for safety purposes as Yuta opens the door to the tattooing room, barely wide enough for him to peek inside, but not enough for Johnny to see anything at all.

“Mr. Ten, please report to the front desk,” Yuta announces, and Johnny can hear a few snickers.

“What’s there for me at the front desk?” He can hear Ten’s voice reply.

“A business to run, smartass.” There’s someone else with Ten, apparently. Perhaps a fellow artist, or maybe an overly friendly customer? Johnny’s trying to make up the scene, but it’s hard when all he can see is Yuta’s back. 

“Someone’s here for a coverup.” 

“Oh my god, yes. My favorite kind of work! How shitty is it?”

Yuta turns around and gives him an apologetic glance, to which Johnny replies with a shrug. “I’m sorry for Ten, this guy may be the best around here, but he’s also kind of a dick. Just don’t mind him, or tell him to shut up.”

“It’s all right.”

As if on cue, said Ten barges into the reception and makes his way up to Johnny, not sans giving Yuta a little smack in the head. 

“Hey, My name’s Ten.” He says, extending a hand in an air of pure confidence and professionalism, almost as if he wasn’t bickering with his friends just now. 

Ten is the complete opposite of everything Johnny’s imagined, but he’s also everything Johnny’s ever wanted. He’s not very tall and has to look up to meet Johnny’s eyes, but his gaze is unwavering. Johnny imagines that if he were to pull Ten into a hug, he’d be the perfect size to cuddle. 

“I’m Johnny.” He takes his hand and gives him a quick handshake, watching as Ten’s eyes sparkle when he smiles at him. He’s absolutely gorgeous and Johnny has to force himself not to stare at the way Ten’s eyes crinkle when he smiles and the way his hand moves intuitively to get his bangs out of his eyes. 

Just standing there and looking at the man did things to Johnny that he can’t really understand. Having Ten tattooing him would be pure torture. 

“Alright, let’s see this monstrosity you want to cover. Hopefully, it’s not that bad and we can get it done before my next appointment. If not, you’re gonna have to wait and make an appointment… Or I could get Yukhei to finish it? Nah, that would probably make it even worse, right?” 

At this point, Ten is mumbling to himself, completely unaware of Yuta’s snort or the offended “hey, that was fucking rude!” they came from the back room, probably from the Yukhei guy. 

“Anyway, let’s get you backstage. Doyoung’s still gonna be working on his customer for a tad bit longer and you don’t need to mind Yukhei, he’s still learning. If he bothers you, you can just tell him to fuck off.”

That seemed to be a recurring theme around here. It takes one more second for Johnny to register what Ten said. “Wait, there’s gonna be people around?” 

Ten looks at him incredulously. “Well, yeah…” 

It’s already bad that Ten, in his entire glorious glory has to look at Johnny’s wonky ink, it’s something else for a whole panel of professionals to be present and to scrutinize him that way. What if it hurts and he can’t take the pain, or ends up crying, or even fainting in front everyone else?

“We have a private room for people who don’t feel comfortable being tattooed in public, we can work there if you want.” Ten suggests. He seems to read Johnny’s discomfort as he adds a nonchalant “most people do prefer a private room, honestly. Especially if it’s their first time or if they have to take clothes off. It’s part of the job description to respect that choice.” 

It makes Johnny a tad bit more comfortable as he follows Ten into the private room. It’s a standard set up, similar to the one at his previous tattoo shop, except everything looks like it cost a couple more thousands of dollars. 

“Alright, let me see what’s going on in there.” Ten looks way too happy to see Johnny absolutely embarrass himself. “I promise I won’t laugh.” 

Johnny wishes the earth could swallow him whole. He takes off his shirt under Ten’s scrutiny, the artist taking in every single one of his moves. Johnny has to take a deep breath before he shrugs the shirt off his head, revealing his tattoo in all of its wonky lined, patchy colored glory. It doesn’t help that Johnny can hear Ten’s poor attempt at concealing his laughter.

“Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh!” 

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. Can’t help it, whoever did this fucked it up so good, it’s almost impressive. Whatever this is, it honestly just looks to me like a strange hybrid between a naked mole rat and a dick… and it’s sitting on a bed of pubic hair?”  
Ten’s completely given up on holding his laughter. His hand is grasping at the leather chair, keeping him from toppling over and his other hand is wiping away tears. Johnny supposes it’s definitely ridiculous if you look at it from an outsider perspective. 

“It’s supposed to be a cat laying on the grass. And I was also really fucking drunk and it was like one in the morning or something.” 

“So you just decided to go out, drunk out of your mind at 1 a.m. to get a tattoo of a random cat on your ribcage?”

“Yep…”

“You and I should be friends.”

Johnny doesn’t know what to respond to that so he doesn’t. He just sits on the chair and waits for Ten’s directives. 

“Alright, so the good news is that the ink work is so shitty that you don’t need to get anything lasered off. It’s also pretty tiny, so we’re not gonna have a hard time covering it up. We could do anything, honestly.” 

There’s nothing that Johnny’s really thought of. Most of the people who get tattoos spend days and months figuring out the perfect design, which he has never done. “I… I don’t know, to be honest?”

“Nothing particularly meaningful enough for you to have permanently inked into your body? ” 

Johnny shakes his head. Anything that comes to his mind is either extremely cliché or something he’d want to get removed within weeks. 

“Alright, what about this?” Ten takes a seat right next to him, and Johnny can practically feel the heat emanate off of Ten’s body. “What do you do when you’re not busy making bad inebriated decisions in the middle of the night?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking you what you do for a living.” 

“Oh. I’m an editor, actually.”

Johnny doesn’t know what to make of the surprised look on Ten’s face. But again, most writing editors are smart enough to not go and get shitty ink while hammered drunk, it’s practically part of the 9 to 5 contract. Johnny’s just… a very stressed adult with a strict deadline and an exhausting writer to babysit.

“I see the vibes.” Ten says while abruptly standing up and moving to his station, grabbing a pen and some paper and scribbling god knows what. “Tormented soul of that wished he were a writer but was mistreated by the world? Every day at your desk, you wish you could be free to write words instead of correcting them? Can’t seem to get his genius out and so he makes brash decisions that ended with him here today. Am I right?”

What the fuck?

“No… Just a tired editor.” Johnny was always told he was very talented at sucking the fun out of things; he can see just that in Ten’s unamused face.

“Anyways. I was thinking maybe we could cover it up with some books stacked on top of each other? We could go for hardcover books, like something straight out of an antique shop.”

It’s a safe choice, something that Johnny can’t really regret and there’s no chance anyone could fuck it up, let alone a professional like Ten. “Sounds great!”

He lies down on the chair and gets comfortable, watching as Ten sketches the design. The sleeves of his sweater are haphazardly bunched up to his elbow, revealing the beautiful and bright solar system that goes all the way up to Ten’s forearm. Only then does it strike Johnny that Ten probably has a bunch of other art all over his body. Johnny wishes he could uncover all of it. 

“Does your forearm tattoo have a meaning?”

Ten is still heavily focused on his sketch when he answers him, not once looking up to meet Johnny’s eyes. “Nope. Most of my ink doesn’t have any meaning behind it. I mostly see it as collecting art on my body. This one I did on myself not very long ago when playing with watercolor; it’s my favorite thing to do.” 

“You tattoo yourself?”

Ten chuckles. “Yep.”

“And it doesn’t hurt?” Johnny’s starting to realize that Ten’s something else entirely. He’s unlike anyone he’s ever met before and he wishes he could hear all about the man.

“Well, after your third or fourth tattoo, you get used to the pain. Plus it’s my job and I’ve been doing it since I was eighteen so it’s been seven years now; the sound of irons is almost calming to me.” 

Ten takes a final look at the sketch before turning it around to show Johnny. “Anyways, here’s what I came up with. If you want to change anything, don’t be shy to let me know.”  
The sketch, although simple in nature is absolutely stunning, Johnny can make out every little detail that Ten put into it. He’d have to thank Kun and Taeyong a million times for the recommendation. 

“It’s perfect!”

“Awesome. Lay down, I’ll make a print of the design and apply it to your ribcage.” 

Ten is back to his own professional self, quickly making a work of the print and grabbing alcohol and cotton on his way back to where Johnny’s now laying down and patiently waiting. It takes him his entire willpower not to gasp when he feels Ten’s cold hand on his skin, flattening the print on his ribcage. Ten must’ve felt the way his muscles contract as well and he mumbles a “sorry, my hands are cold.”

The room falls silent as Johnny inspects his ribcage one more time. It doesn’t look like much so far as it’s covering the previous disaster, but it’s there nonetheless and he’s sure it’ll turn out beautiful. Ten cleans his ribcage one more time before putting on his gloves and turning on the irons. 

“All right, here we go.” He nudges at Johnny who takes a deep breath. “You can cry if it hurts, I promise won’t tell anyone.” 

“You really are an asshole, aren’t you?” Johnny responds, taking full offense in Ten’s joke. “Also, I don’t trust you. You’ll probably end up recording me and making sure everyone knows.” 

“I would never!” Ten exclaims in mock affront. Johnny is torn between wanting to punch his arm and wanting to kiss him to shut him up. “Take a deep breath, I’m starting now.”

Johnny does as he’s told. He can feel his hands shaking in nervousness and he grasps at the edges of the seat to stop his body from moving. He didn’t realize how nervous he was until now and he starts getting slightly light headed when he feels the deep boring sensation of the machine into his ribcage. He should’ve done a few shots before coming here. 

Johnny tries to focus his attention on Ten’s steady hands and the way his tongue pokes out in concentration to get his mind out of the pain. It also helps that Ten does stop once in a while to let him breathe and ask him if he’s doing alright. 

They don’t say much. Johnny figures he should let Ten focus completely on his work and it isn’t until halfway through the tattoo when Johnny’s gotten used to the pain and the need to wet himself is gone that he hears Ten’s voice again. 

“Can I ask you something a little TMI?”

“Huh? Sure…?”

“How do you ever have sex with this thing on? I could never take you seriously, with that thing on. Instant boner killer.” It’s unexpected and at the same time so in character for Ten to ask just that. It makes him wiggle in discomfort and Ten has to pin him down to keep him from moving. 

“Well, you just gotta give them a heads up before anything happens.”

“Warning, please proceed with caution. Roadworks ahead,” he says in what sounds like a terrible attempt at the voice navigation on Johnny’s map app. It only makes Johnny huff out. 

“I’m just teasing you, I’m sure you have no problem getting it on with that face of yours.”

They fall into silence once again as Johnny takes his time to process Ten’s words. Johnny’s always known he was relatively attractive, but hearing it from someone as otherworldly as Ten is a whole other experience. Johnny’s pretty sure nothing can ever top this. 

-

Waking up to a completely different tattoo is a whole new experience to Johnny. He has to scrutinize it in the mirror again, making sure to twist and turn and making out every slight detail of it. He’s meeting Taeyong and Kun today, the three of them have finally found an empty hour among their conflicting schedules. 

“So, tell us the juicy details. Did you cry, or faint?” 

They’re having lunch together in downtown Chicago, as a “mourning of Johnny’s past masterpiece” as Taeyong calls it. Johnny believes it’s more of a celebration. He’d sent them a dozen pictures of his new tattoo, each at a slightly different angle to “capture the true essence of this baby”, as Johnny calls it. 

“It was painful, but the artist made it worthwhile. He’s literally one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met. You should see him, he’s completely adorable but also really badass somehow… Although he’s kind of a jerk.” Johnny can barely contain the dreamy sigh that escapes his lips without his permission.

“So I take it you met Ten?” Kun is slowly sipping on his Coca-Cola, eyes following Johnny’s every movement. 

“I didn’t just meet Ten-”

“Did you fuck Ten?” Taeyong cuts him before he can finish his sentence, making Johnny choke on his food. “Johnny, that’s bold, especially coming from you.”

“What the fuck, Yong?” He has to take a second to regain his composure. He’d barely kept it together while spending time with Ten at the shop, while Ten was doing nothing but his job. He can’t imagine doing anything else without making himself look even more like an idiot. “No, he just sat there and did his job, looking like the most beautiful human I’ve ever seen.” 

“Yeah, Ten has that effect on people.” Kun chimes in, in the most nonchalant way possible. Johnny wonders how Kun knows Ten and if he did send Johnny to the shop on purpose. After all, it’s very Kun-like to be absolutely unpredictable. 

“Did you get his number?” Taeyong’s looking at him with expectant eyes and Johnny is starting to believe that these two really did send him there for something other than just getting his terrible tattoo covered up.

“Heh, well…” 

Taeyong’s smile is soon to turn into the most disappointed scowl Johnny’s ever seen on the man. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a few ten dollar bills that he hands to a very smug looking Kun. 

“I told you he wouldn’t have the guts to make a move.” Kun is still sipping on his fucking Coke.

It takes Johnny a moment to register the situation, and he doesn’t really know how to feel about it. He looks back and forth between his two friends who are clearly unphased by the look on Johnny’s face. Kun makes sure to kill his worries immediately, though.

“Don’t worry, it’s just the two of us clowning you, Ten probably doesn’t even remember we ever stepped foot in his shop.” It doesn’t make Johnny feel any more relief. If Ten forgot Taeyong and Kun in all of their pretty boy glory, there’s no way he’ll remember him.

“Whoa thanks, guys.”

“Love you too.” Taeyong gives him a slightly lopsided grin before popping a little too many fries in his mouth. 

Lunch with his friends makes Johnny think about his situation a tad bit too much for his own liking. He didn’t really think about not being able to see Ten again after leaving the parlor, yet now, it’s dawning on him. He has no way or reason for seeing Ten again. He could always barge into the shop again with absolutely no idea in mind, but he doubts that any member of the staff would be happy about it, let alone Ten.

Johnny’s pacing back and forth in his living room, phone in hand.

He’s only met Ten for a few hours and yet, he realizes he’s never been drawn to someone this much in his life. There’s something about the artist that just makes Johnny lose his common sense and it goes far beyond physical appearance. Granted, it can be the fact that Johnny’s the world’s most average man and that Ten is the complete opposite of that. It can be the art on his body or the fact that he’s successful enough to open his own shop at such a young age while Johnny’s stuck in his endless loop of wake up, type in a computer from 9 to 5, rinse, repeat. 

One thing’s for sure, Johnny wants to see Ten again, and he has absolutely no clue how to do it.

He can always text Taeyong to get Doyoung to get Ten to agree to a meeting with him, but that would be too complicated. He also would rather not owe Taeyong anything.

Naturally, Johnny thinks of the next best thing and settles in front of his laptop, looking up some of the largest designs he can get tattooed on himself without getting in trouble with HR. It’s borderline genius and at this point, Johnny doesn’t really care for the consequences. 

“It’s a terrible idea.” Kun texts back almost immediately when Johnny suggests the idea. The text that follows is Taeyong pointing out how it’s the best bad idea that Johnny’s ever had. 

Johnny’s still decided to carry on with it.

**Author's Note:**

> hi, hello. yes it's me your least favorite ncity resident....  
> I legit wrote this based off a tweet i posted in like May that goes "imagine ten being a tattoo artist and using johnny as his canvas" and now i'm realizing I actually have to work up to that moment...  
> so i'm writing a whole ass chaptered fic.
> 
> not sure how i'm gonna keep up with updating since i'm about to start grad school applications but we'll see !
> 
> also come hang out on twt [@lgbtqhyuck](https://twitter.com/lgbtqhyuck)  
> i'm kinda annoying but i'm nice i promise.


End file.
